Sewing machine



Dec. 20, 1960 YOSHIICHI MATSUSHITA 2,965,055

SEWING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. '7, 1959 a E v m Dec. 20, 1960 YOSHllCHI MATSUSHITA 2,965,055

SEWING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 kn NEE Ufidfi ill ljujugni .r u .r 0mm 25E 26; N: I l .u JM fiWMEH NV mm $2 2m 26E a h mm m 1E E= N United States Patent SEWING MACHINE Yoshiichi Matsushita, Tairyocho, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka,

Japan, assignor of fifty percent to Janome Sewing Machine Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan Filed Jan. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 785,509

Claims priority, application Japan Jan. 13, 1958 3 Claims. (Cl. 112-175) This invention relates to a sewing or stitching machine for forming the so-called running stitches or stitches which alternately appear on one face and the other of the work at substantially equal intervals, thus describing a dotted line of stitches on each face of the work, by using a horizontal needle.

Heretofore, as well known, such running stitching has been made exclusively by hand. Therefore, it is the primary object and aim of the present invention to provide a machine which, by a minimum number of parts and by a simple mechanism, accomplishes the rapid formation of running stitches which, heretofore, has been considered possible only by a hand sewing operation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a sewing or stitching machine of the above type which will perform all operations necessary to form the running stitches with minimum manual operations.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine of the above type which, by a minimum number of simple adjustments and without interchanging parts, adapts itself to the formation of running stitches of various types and length.

According to the present invention there is provided a work guiding device to lightly clamp and guide a work before entering into a sewing or stitching head of the machine. The machine is also provided with a stitching head which comprises a work draw-out means which is adapted to receive the work under tension from the work guiding device and to continuously draw the work so received through and out of the said means rearwardly. A horizontal needle which may be one ordinarily used in the usual hand sewing operation is held loosely but substantially stationarily in the said work draw-out means, the point of the needle being directed so as to penetrate the work entering across said point into the work draw-out means. The work guiding device is reciprocatively swung across the plane in which the needle is horizontally placed, so that the portion of the work running between the work guiding device and the work draw-out means under tension is also swung across the said plane. Each time when the work swings across the said plane, the needle penetrates the work alternately from each other face of the work. The work so penetrated by the needle is passed and forced rearwardly through and by the work draw-out means and driven out in a space formed behind the draw-out means and successively accumulated in said space.

Thereafter, the operation of the machine is temporarily discontinued and the accumulated and needle-penetrated portion of the work is squeezed or drawn, for example through a hand, out of the needle so that running stitches are formed in the work by a thread held by the needle.

The operation of the machine is resumed and the aforementioned operation is cycled.

It is preferable to provide a suitable means for varying the ratio of the angular distance of the swinging motion of the work above the plane of the needle to that below the said plane so as to vary the length of each stitch with respect to each interval of the stitches. This may be ac- 2,965,055 Patented Dec. 20, 1960 complished, for example, by adjusting the position of the work guiding device (at a fixed starting position of the machine) with respect to the plane of the needle.

It is also preferable to make it possible to vary the speed of the work passing through the machine during the operation so as to vary the length of each stitch and interval regardless of the adjustment of the position of the work guiding device as mentioned above. Since the work is driven solely by the work draw-out means according to this invention, the variation in running speed of the work is easily effected by varying the rate of the motion of the said draw-out means.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the drawout means consists of a pair of upper and lower toothed members, said teeth facing each other, with a work therebetween. These members are alternately forwardly and rearwardly reciprocated by any suitable driving mechanism.

The teeth on each of the said members are sharply directed rearwardly or to the direction to which the work is drawn or pulled, in such a manner that in each rearward stroke of any one of the members the work is drawn rearwardly by the teeth thereon in cooperation with the teeth on the other member which is moving forwardly, whereas in each forward stroke of any one of the members the teeth thereon will merely slide on the face of the work without any noticeable frictional resistance so that the work will not be pushed forwardly thereby.

The needle may be horizontally and loosely supported between the toothed members, for example by a pair of leaf springs mounted in respective recesses formed longitudinally of the teeth. The rear end of the needle may be abutted against a suitable stopper so that the needle is retained substantially stationarily in the toothed members.

The movements of the work guiding device and the draw-out means or the toothed members may be effected by suitable mechanical elements such as cams, gears, levers and the like and the source of power may be hand, foot or electric motor as in the conventional sewing or stitching machines.

It is believed that this is the first time that a very simple machine to form the so-called running stitches has been successfully devised.

Further objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of a particular illustrative embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, this, however, having been chosen for purposes of exemplification only, as it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that said invention, as defined by the claims hereunto appended, may be otherwise embodied without departure from its spirit and scope.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of a machine embodying the present invention, with part of the table and its supports or legs broken away, and the lower casing partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the main portion of the machine partly in cross section, with the intermediate casing omitted and the upper and lower casings broken away, the machine being in the fixed starting position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top view of Fig. 2 partly in section and partly broken away.

Fig. 4 is a somewhat schematic enlarged side view of upper and lower work draw-out members with associated parts, partly in section, and in one operative position.

Fig. 5 is a schematic enlarged side view of upper and lower toothed members with associated parts partly in section, in one typical extreme operative position.

' Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing another typical extreme operative position.

Fig. 7 is a somewhat schematic front view of the upper gitudinal section and plan view of running stitches formed by another type of operation of the machine.

Figs. 12a and 1212 are respectively schematic longitudinal section and plan view of running stitches formed by another type of operation of the machine.

A sewing or stitching machine embodying this invention may be formed as a portable or table type, hand or foot operated type or electric motor operated type as in the conventionalsewing machines, but it is of no importance in which type the machine is formed, so far as the essence of the invention is concerned.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a machine comprises a sewing or stitching head 1 which, in its operative position, is supported on a table 2 but may be housing below the table 2 when the machine is not in use, by any suitable manner as usual in the conventional sewing machines.

The machine head 1 comprises a work draw-out means consisting of a pair of upper and lower work draw-out members 3, 4 facing each other and extending longitu dinally of the machine head. At the bottomof the lower member 4 there is projected a longitudinalslide 5 which slidably engages in a guide groove 6 formed on a fixed block 6'. In an upper casing A, there are upper and lower bars 8 and 9 extending longitudinally therein. The bars 8 and 9 are connected, at the foreward ends, respectively with arms 10 and 11 which extend at right angles to the respective bars. In Fig. 3 only the upper arm 10. is seen and the lower arm 11 is hidden below the arm 10. casing B formed laterally of the upper casing A as shown. The reduced free end portions 10' and 11 of the respective arms 10 and 11 are fitted respectively into openings 12 and 13 which are formed in the upper and lower, members 3 and 4 respectively, to support the latter. The upper member 3 may be fixed in position on the reduced portion 10 of the arm 10 by means of a set screw 14 as shown in Fig. 2. It is preferable to form the opening 13 as an open ended recess as shown so that the lower member 4 can be easily removed from the reduced end portion 11 of the arm 11 by holding the said member 4 upwardly by hand. The upper bar 8 and hence the upper member 3 is pressed downwardly by a U- shaped spring 15 and a coil spring 16 which force is manually adjustable by a screw 17 as wellshown in Fig. 2.

The bottom of the upper member 3 and the top of the lower member 4 are provided respectively with similar longitudinal central recesses 18 and 19 (Fig. 4) to receive leaf springs 20 and 21 respectively therein.

At both Sides of the recess, each member is equally provided with a plurality of teeth 22 which are sharply direction rearwardly or to the direction of the movement of a work. The teeth on the upper member 3 are sy-mmetrical with those on the lower member 4. Thus, any one of the teeth on the upper member 3 face the corresponding one on the lower member 4 in the fixed starting position of the machine (Fig. 2). The upper member 3 is so depressed by the springs 15 and 16 that the teeth on the upper member 3 are normally in lightly pressed contact with the teeth on the lower member 4, with a worl therebetween.

The upper leaf spring 20 is inserted in the recess18 between the two rows of the above mentioned teeth and.

The lower arm 11 extends into an. intermediate.

4 is mounted at its middle portion on the bottom of the member 3 by means of a screw 23. The fore end por tion of the leaf spring 20 is inwardly and sharply bent to form an upper clamp member 24, and a rearwardly sloping portion to terminate into a work press member 25. Similarly the lower leaf spring 21 is inserted in the recess 19 between the two rows of the teeth and is mounted at its middle portion on the bottom of the recess by means of a screw 26. The lower leaf spring 21 is shaped identically with the upper leaf spring 20 and thus has a lower clamp member 27 and a lower work press member 28. The upper clamp member 24, press member 25, lower clamp member 27 and press member 28 are provided with longitudinal and aligned grooves 29, 30, 31 and 32 respectively for loosely and substantially horizontally supporting a needle N therein. Normally, the upper clamp member 24 and press member 25 are in lightly pressed contact respectively with the lower clamp member 27 and the press member 28 with the need e N therebetween and substantially in the plane in which the upper and lower teeth engage with each.

Other.

Indicated with the numeral 33 is a needle stopper post which is mounted on the base 2 and is preferable to be forwardly and rearwardly movable for adjustment of the position. A leaf spring 34 is connected at its lower end to the post by means, for example, of a screw 35 and extends upwardly along the front face of the post to terminate into a curved portion 36 fitting over the upper end of the post. A cam 37 with a rearwardly extending lever 38 is pivotally connected at 39 to the post 33 as shown so as to be engageable with the leaf spring 34 to push the latter forwardly when the lever 38 is operated (Fig. 4), for the purpose herein later mentioned.

Along the face of the rear wall of the body of the upper toothed member 3, there extends a leaf spring 40. The spring 40 is connected at its upper end to the wall of the member 3 by means, for example, of a screw 41, and extends rearwardly therefrom into the space between the needle backing or stopper post 33 and the upper member 3 to terminate into a depressing spring tongue 42 arranged just behind the member 3 and above the needle N as well shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

The lower toothed member 4 and the stopper post 33 are so arranged in the intermediate casing B in such a manner that their upper portions are exposed above the casing through an opening 7 thereon.

A pair of rocking or oscillating levers 43 and 44 is pivotally supported at the centre between machine frames 45 and 46 with a space, so that these levers can swing about the said centre. Each lever has, at both sides of the pivotal support, alined elongated slots 47 and 48 (only on the lever 43 are seen in the drawings). The upper bar 8 extends rearwardly into the space between the levers 43 and 44, and slide pins 49 projecting outwardly from both sides of the bar 8 extend into the elongated slots 47 on the levers 43 and 44 respectively so as to he slidably guided therein. Similarly, the lower bar 9 extends rearwardly into the space between the levers 43 and 44 with its outwardly projecting slide pins 50 extending into the elongated slots 48 on the levers 43 and 44 respectively so as to be slidably guided thereby.

The levers 43 and 44- are integrally connected with arms 51 and 52 respectively in such a manner that each lever with its arm forms substantially a T-shape. Each arm is provided therein with an elongated slot 53 which is slightly curved along with the arm as shown so that a head 54 of a rod 55 which extends from the interior of the lower casing C upwardly into the interior of the upper casing A may slide in the slot 53. The upper end or head 54. of the rod 55 is inserted between the arms 51 and 52 and is adapted to be fixed together with the arms at a selected position in the slot 53 by any suitable means suchas a bolt-nut means 57. The rod 55 and the levers 43 and 44 are so arranged that the latter are substantially vertical when the former or rod is in a fixed starting position (Fig. 2).

A disc 58 is rotatably supported at its centre on the frame 46. A ring 59 is slidably mounted on the periphcry of the disc 58. The ring 59 is provided with a set or stop screw 60 which when screwed in, tightens the ring against the disc so that they are bodily movable. While, if the screw 60 is loosened, the disc and ring are disconnected so as to be movable independently from each other.

A pair of upper and lower arms 61 and 62 extends through and transversely of the disc 58 as well shown in Fig. 1. Upper and lower work clamp or guide rollers 63 and 64 are rotatably supported on the ends of the arms 61 and 62 respectively. A coil spring 65 is connected between the other ends of the arms as well shown in Fig. 1 so that the rollers 63 and 64, normally, are in lightly pressed contact with each other to form a work clamp nip. When the spring connected ends of the arms 61 and 62 are pressed to the direction of each other against the force of the spring the rollers 63 and 64 are disengaged to form a work receiving space thercbetween. The arms are so mounted in the disc 58 that they are bodily movable together with the latter.

The upper end or head 66 of a rod 67 is rotatably mounted at its lateral extension on a bracket 68 fixed on the periphery of the ring 59 in such a manner that the axis 69 of the head 66 is in the plane common to the plane of the needle N or the engagement of the upper and lower toothed members 3 and 4 when the rod 67 is in the fixed starting position (Fig. 2).

From the above, it will be understood that when the rods 55 and 67 are reciprocated upwardly and downwardly the upper and lower toothed members 3 and 4 are alternatively reciprocated forwardly and rearwardly, while the rollers 63 and 64 are swung about the centre of the disc 58 through a predetermined angular distance, for example about 90 degrees. While the particular mechanism for accomplishing this motion of the toothed members 3 and 4 and rollers 63 and 64 has been shown and described herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other mechanism which is usually or commonly used to effect similar operation may be utilized herein.

The upward and downward reciprocation of the rods 55 and 67 may be effected by any suitable manner which is obvious to those skilled in the art. In the particular embodiment shown, the driving mechanism is arranged in a lower casing C. A hand operating handle 70 is connected to a main shaft 71 at its end outside the casing C. The shaft 71 extends into the interior of the casing C. On other end of the shaft 71 is connected a bevel gear 72 meshing with a bevel gear 73 fixed on a shaft 74 extending longitudinally in the casing C and perpendicularly to the main shaft 71. The shaft 74 is rotatably supported on a pair of bearings 75 fixed on a partition wall 76. A disc 77 is fixed at each end of the shaft 74 to rotate therewith. Each disc 77 has an eccentric pin 78 projecting therefrom. These pins 78 extend into horizontally elongated slots 79 in sliders 80 pivotally supported on the lower ends of the rods 55 and 67 respectively. The lower sides of the sliders 80 are con neeted respectively with guide bars 81, each extending downwardly into a vertical guide channel 82 provided below the wall 76. The disc 77, pins 78 and sliders 80 are symmetrical and identical with each other, so that the rods 55 and 67 are simultaneously moved reciprocatively upwardly and downwardly when the lever 70 is manually operated or rotated. Although the embodiment shown and described is manually operated, it should be understood that it may be modified so as to be foot operated or electrically operated as usual in the conventional sewing machines.

A cam 83 is arranged below the upper bar 8 and is adapted to be operated by a lever 84 through a shaft 85..

When the lever 84 is turned to left (as viewed in Fig. 2) the bar 8 will be forced by the cam 83 upwardly against the springs 15 and 16 which latter, in this case, may be loosened by the screw 17 beforehand, so that the upper toothed member 3 is lifted apart from the lower member 4 for inspection, replacement or insertion of the leaf spring 20, needle N and any other purpose.

In most typical operation of the machine, the position of the disc 58 is adjusted so that the nip of the rollers 63 and 64 is in alinement with the axis 69 and the plane of the needle N (Fig. 2). In other words, the nip of the rollers 63 and 64 is placed in the plane of the needle N at the fixed starting position of the machine shown in Fig. 2. The needle, for example 42 mm. in length and 1 mm. in diameter is loosely inserted in the slots 29, 30, 31, 32. A length of a sewing or stitching thread T has been passed through a hole in the rear end of the needle. The ends of the arms 61 and 62 are gripped against the force of the spring 65 to form a space between the rollers 63 and 64. The leading end of the work W is passed through the said space and then the gripping is released so as to lightly clamp the work between the rollers 63 and 64. The leading end of the work W is further lightly pushed in between the entrance or beginning portions of both the members 3 and 4. The force of the spring 16 is adjusted by the screw 17 so that a proper downward pressure is imparted to the upper member 3, said pressure being determined by the kind, nature and thickness of the work to be fed.

Operation of the handle 70 moves the rods 55 and 67 simultaneously and reciprocatively, upwardly and downwardly from the fixed starting position shown in Fig. 2. The upward and downward reciprocation of the rod 55 causes the levers 43, 44 swing about its centre with the result that the bars 8, 9 and hence the upper and lower toothedmembers 3 and 4 are alternately forwardly and rearw-ardly reciprocated. Thus, the work W is drawn rearwardly by the toothed members, under tension, from the guide rollers 63, 64 and is received between the members 3 and 4, and is continuously forced or driven rearwardly therebetween due to the rearward strokes of the teeth of the said members 3 and 4. Since the teeth are rearwardly sharply directed they merely slide, without any noticeable frictional resistance, on the faces of the work W when they move forwardly.

Meanwhile, the upward and downward reciprocation of the rod 67 causes the ring 59, disc 58 and arms 61 and 62 bodily swing about the centre of the disc 58, each describing an are through a predetermined angle (for example, whose central line is in the plane of the needle N or the engagement of the upper and lower members 3 and 4. Thus the work W guided by nip of the rollers 63 and 64 is continuously pulled into and by the toothed members 3 and 4 rearwardly, also with the swinging motion.

Each time when the work W traverses the point of the needle N upwardly or downwardly the work is penetrated by the needle. It will be easily understood, in this case, that the interval of the penetrations is substantially equal. During one complete operation of the machine, the stitching head will reciprocate between the position shown in Fig. 5 and the position shown in Fig. 6.

Upon continuing the operation, the work penetrated at equal intervals is pulled rearwardly by the rearward movement of the teeth of the upper and lower members 3 and 4, and is continued to be accumulated in the space between the post and the rear end of the members 3, 4 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In this connection, it should be recalled that the needle N is prevented from moving rearwardly by the needle backing or stopper post 33. The depressing spring 43 will serve to prevent the needle from floating by such accumulation of the work.

When the accumulation has become to a proper but not undue extent, the operation is discontinued and the lever 38-is'operatedto push the leaf spring 34 forwardly sothatv post 33. Thus the work is ready for withdrawal from the needle. When the accumulated work is drawn or squeezed out from the needle N by hand as in the usual hand sewing or stitching operation, there is obtained the work with so called running stitches at substantially equal intervals and equal length. It will be understood, in this case, that the interval of the stitches is substantially equal to the length of each stitch as shown in Figs. 10a and 10b wherein T indicates the thread and F, F respectively designate fabric layers to be stitched together.

Then the aforementioned operation is cycled to efiect further stitching.

The stitch length and hence the stitch interval may be adjusted by suitably adjusting the position of the head 54 of the rod 55 in the slot 53. Thus if the head 54 is fixed in the slot 53 ata point farther from the lever 43 the range of the swinging motion of the lever 43 becomes larger so that the reciprocation strokes of the members 3, 4 become longer and thereby longer stitch or longer interval of the stitches is obtained. If the rod head 54 is tfixed at a position in the slot 53 closer to the lever 43, the" reverse result, namely shorter stitch (and hence shorter interval of the stitches) is obtained.

The running stitches obtained by the above mentioned setting of the machine are such that each stitch is substantially equal in length to the interval. In other words, each stitch appearing on the surface of the work is substantially equal in length to each stitch appearing on the back or reverse face of the work (Figs. 10a and 10b). According to this invention, it is also possible to form running stitches in which the length of each stitch is not equal to that of the interval between the adjacent stitches or, in other words, each stitch appearing on the surface of the work is different in length from each stitch appearing on the back or reverse face of the Work. This variation is obtained by adjusting the position of the rollers 63, 64 in such a manner that their nip will be above or below the plane common to the needle N and the axis 69 of the head of the rod 67 or, in other words, the nip of the rollers 63, 64 will be above or below the plane of the needle N at the fixed starting position of the machine. This adjustment may be :made by releasing the screw 60, Varying the relative position of the disc 58 to the ring 59 as desired and tightening the screw to fix the disc and ring in said relative position. It will easily be understood that if the nip of the rollers is above the plane of the needle N at the fixed starting position, the running stitches formed will be such that each stitch appearing on the surface of the work is shorter than each stitch appearing on the back or reverse face of the work as shown in Figs. 12a and 12b, while if the nip is below the said plane each stitch appearing on the surface of the work will be longer than each stitch appearing on the back or reverse face of the work as shown in Figs. 11a and 11b.

Thus, it will be readily understood that various types of running stitches are obtainable by suitably adjusting the setting of the disc 58 and the head 54 of the rod 53 in the slots 53.

Having thus described the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that various modifications and changes may be made in the illustrated embodiment without departing from either the spirit or the scope of the invention.

Thus, for example, instead of a single row of the slots. 29, 30, 31 and 32, there may be formed a plurality of. rows of the slots so as to hold a plurality of needles. Byv

this way, a plurality of rows of running stitches can be formed simultaneously.

I claim:

1. A running stitch forming machine comprising an upper work draw-out toothed member, a lower work draw-out toothed member, each of said toothed members including opposed teeth sloped to move work positioned thcrebetween in a predetermined direction upon relative lateral reciprocation of said members, said members having opposed recesses longitudinal of the direction of work movement, an upper leaf spring positioned in the recess of said upper toothed member and connected thereto, a lower leaf spring positioned in the recess of said lower toothed member and connected thereto, said upper and lower leaf springs including resiliently engageable out standing forward and rear portions, means for supporting said upper and lower toothed members on said framefor reciprocating movement backwards and forward, a needle placed horizontally, loosely and substantially between said upper and lower toothed members, the point of the needle being directed in a direction away from. the direction of work feed and the rear end of the needle carrying a sewing thread, means for reciprocating said upper and lower toothed members, a circular member rotatably mounted on said frame with its center in substantial alignment with the path of work movement between said toothed members, and including a work guid-- ing portion thereon adapted to rotate therewith, and means for oscillating said circular member through a prescribed arc first in one direction and then in the other to move said work guiding portion above and below the path of movement of the work between said toothed members, whereby the work, while being continuously pulled by the draw-out toothed members under tension, is penetrated by the needle each time the guiding device is moved across the plane of work feed, the penetrated portion of the work being subsequently and continuously drawn between the toothed members.

2. A running stitch machine as set forth in claim 1, including a needle stopper post mounted rearwardly of and spaced from said upper and lower draw-out toothed members and located in the plane of work feed to provide an abutment for the rear end of said needle, the space between said needle stopper post and said toothed members serving as an accumulation space for work penetrated by the needle and discharged from said toothed members.

3. A running stitch forming machine as set forth in claim 2, including a leaf spring extending along said needle stopper post and adapted to engage the rear end of the needle, cam means rotatably mounted on said stopper post and adapted to push the leaf spring forwardly against the resilient force thereof to cause a forward displacement of the needle whereby to form a space between the rear end of the needle and the needle stopper post to facilitate manual removal of the accumulated work from the needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.645.257 Rossmann Oct. 11, 1927 2,415,383 Becker Feb. 4, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 168,656 Great Britain Sept. 5, 192.1 

